In recent years, ECVs have become increasingly popular. Examples of such products include the FORD.RTM. TAURUS.RTM. Station Wagon, the JEEP.RTM. GRAND CHEROKEE.RTM. Sport Utility Vehicle, and the DODGE.RTM. CARAVAN.RTM. Mini-Van. These ECVs are all characterized by an enlarged cabin area that extends generally from the windshield of the vehicle, to the rear end of the vehicle where a tailgate (or rear hatch) is provided for rear access into the cabin.
The increased popularity of these vehicles can be attributed in some measure to their increased passenger carrying capacity when compared to conventional sedans. Most sedans include two rows of seats, including a front row in which the driver and front passenger(s) sit, and a first (and only) row of rear seats. Many ECVs include a second rear row of seats in addition to the front and back seats.
As both cargo and passenger carrying capacity are valued, it is desirable to design the first and second rear row of seats to be configured both to carry additional passengers and additional cargo, and to be convertible easily between an enhanced passenger carrying configuration, and an enhanced cargo carrying configuration.
Examples of patents showing various seating/cargo configurations for ECVs are Itoh U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,782; Odagaki et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,581; LeBault et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,736; Crawford et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,769; Gokimoto et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,484,776; Gokimoto et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,656; Plavetich U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,418; Brambilla U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,178; Hayden et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,355; Fowler et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,466,048; and Woziekonski et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,699.
Some of the patents described above disclose seats for use in vans and minivans, whereas others relate to seats for use in station wagons and sport utility vehicles. The design challenges faced by the designers of seats for vans are usually somewhat different than the challenges faced by those designing seats for station wagons and sport utility vehicles. Vans typically have a cargo compartment that is taller than the cargo compartments in either station wagons or sport utility vehicles. Additionally, vans usually have a flat floor which extends generally between the back of the front row of seats and the tailgate. On the other hand, station wagons and sport utility vehicles typically have a floor that comprises a series of platforms at different levels. For example, a station wagon will typically have a first floor platform which comprises the foot well of the second seat, another platform on which the femur portion of the first rear seat rests, and which also may comprise the foot well for the second rear seat, and a relatively raised platform on which the femur portion of the second rear seat is placed. As used in this application, the "femur portion" of a seat is that portion of a seat upon which the passenger places his/her buttocks and thighs during normal use.
Because of these different configurations, seats for vans are typically designed differently than seats for station wagons and sport utility vehicles. Most seats for vans are designed to be of chair height, and have relatively long legs which connect the lower surface of the femur portion to the floor of the van. As the floor of the van is generally flat, and has no foot wells, most van seats do not contain mechanisms for making the seat a part of the van floor when the user desires to carry cargo. Rather, van seats are often designed to be removable to enable the user to remove the seat from the van when he wishes to have a large cargo area.
To the contrary, most second and third seats for sport utility vehicles and station wagons are not designed to be removable. Rather, the seats are designed to be foldable. To move the seat between its "passenger carrying" position and its "cargo carrying" position, the back portion and/or the femur portion are rotated about pivot axes, so that one of the surface(s) of one or both of the back portions of the first and second rear seats are generally co-planar with the floor of the vehicle. When the first and second rear seats are placed in their "cargo" positions, a planar cargo surface can be formed which extends from the rearward facing surface of the front seats to the tailgate of the vehicle. An example of a folding arrangement that is usable in a station wagon is shown in LeBault et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,227,736.
Notwithstanding the existence of several known seating arrangements that provide for seats that are capable of being moved between a passenger carrying position and a cargo carrying position, room for improvement exists.
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a seat system that includes a pair of seats having a first rear seat that provides comfortable and safe seating for the occupants when the seat is in its seating position, and which can be folded into a cargo carrying position that provides a generally planar cargo carrying compartment.
Another difficulty that faces a seat designer of vehicles having three rows of seats is providing a means to permit ingress to and egress from the third seat. Most station wagons, vans and sport utility vehicles that have three rows of seats include either four or five doors. Almost all vehicles include left and right "front" doors to permit passengers to gain access to the left hand and right hand front seats. Many station wagons, sport utility vehicles, and minivans manufactured by the assignee, Chrysler Corporation, contain two rear side doors that are placed adjacent to the second row of seats. On such vehicles, the rearward opening tailgate is typically counted as the "fifth" door.
Because the rear side doors of most ECVs are positioned adjacent to the first row of rear seats, means must be provided for enabling passengers to gain ingress and egress to the second row of rear seats. Several currently known methods exist for providing such access. For example, many station wagons such as the FORD.RTM. TAURUS.RTM. install a rearwardly facing second rear seat that permits passengers to gain access thereto through the tailgate door. On minivans, a common practice is to use a first rear seat that has a width substantially less than the width of the vehicle, to provide a space in the interior of the vehicle, adjacent to the door through which a passenger can pass to gain access to the second rear seat.
Both of these two methods of providing ingress have drawbacks. For example, vehicle length constraints often make rear facing second rear seats uncomfortable for passengers other than small children. Additionally, rearward facing second rear seats are generally not suitable for use with car seats, thus precluding their use by very young children. Reduced width first rear seats suffer the drawback of reducing the usable seat width, thus reducing the passenger carrying capacity of the vehicle.
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a full width first rear seat for a vehicle that provides access to the second rear row of seats to enable the second rear row of seats to be placed in a forward facing orientation.